While investigating the deaths of three people during a bird flu outbreak in rural Indiana, scientist Ethan Hicks discovers that the bird flu virus responsible for the deaths was not a natural one, but an artificial and controllable one produced by a rogue university technician, Isaac Levy, armed with a DNA synthesizer and stolen vials of Moderna mRNA vaccine. Ethan soon finds that Isaac's bird flu virus was just a practice run for a much deadlier outbreak, with a much deadlier virus. Ethan races to uncover the plot, convince the authorities, and, with the help of a team of special agents, prevent Isaac from unleashing an epidemic with international implications. The science described here is real. The bioterrorism risk described here is real as well.